The Balance Between Teaching and Research in the Work Life of American Academics

Abstract

Since the World War II, academic work in the USA came to be structured by institutional type and academic field. Faculty in research universities spent their time in different ways than those at baccalaureate colleges and faculty in the sciences or professional fields in very different ways from those in the humanities and social sciences. As academic work and careers evolve, we are now seeing increasing diversification within institutional types and academic fields—primarily on the bases of type of appointment (regular, full-time, vs. part-time and limited term). Teaching and research are increasingly being undertaken by different kinds of faculty on different kinds of appointments rather than as an integrated set of responsibilities of every faculty member. Within the context of this increasing role specialization as between teaching and research, two trends seem clear: the teaching emphasis of faculty work has grown, while the resources and actual faculty effort devoted to research have slightly declined. Some of that may be attributable to the rise of full-time nontenure eligible, limited contract faculty with more highly specialized roles. More American faculty are now engaged in either teaching or research than at any time in the last half century, and it is the “pure” teacher contingent that is growing. Moreover, the actual publication productivity of American academics has declined over the past 15 years (1992–2007)—that is, fewer resources and less time invested have resulted in less productivity by the conventional standard of scholarly publications.